The First Time

20 people share the first time they realized their skin color mattered. Share your own story with #realizediwasblack https://t.co/OUNh3UqL2C pic.twitter.com/1XxnJKBPJu

— CNN (@CNN) February 10, 2017

It's Called Treason, Mike

WaPo is making no bones about it - they put it in print as a declarative statement, without moderating it:

National security adviser Michael Flynn privately discussed U.S. sanctions against Russia with that country’s ambassador to the United States during the month before President Trump took office, contrary to public assertions by Trump officials, current and former U.S. officials said.

Flynn’s communications with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak were interpreted by some senior U.S. officials as an inappropriate and potentially illegal signal to the Kremlin that it could expect a reprieve from sanctions that were being imposed by the Obama administration in late December to punish Russia for its alleged interference in the 2016 election.

Flynn on Wednesday denied that he had discussed sanctions with Kislyak. Asked in an interview whether he had ever done so, he twice said, “No.”

On Thursday, Flynn, through his spokesman, backed away from the denial. The spokesman said Flynn “indicated that while he had no recollection of discussing sanctions, he couldn’t be certain that the topic never came up.”

"...couldn't be certain..." The Reagan defense - I don't recall.

We have transcripts, General. You called the Russians half a dozen times just to chat? About what, baseball? You were gonna drop by for coffee sometime? You're a lyin' sack o' shit, pal.

So now we get to watch another dance as Flynn and Pence duke it out - either Pence lied in public or Flynn lied to Pence.

But if we're picking survivors, my money's on Pence. He has some cover because he's worked in the DC network and prob'ly still has a few chips out there. Plus, he has to be sucking up bigly to whoever's plotting Trump's demise (a strictly political demise that is).  But he has to win it all or he'll lose it all. His career was deeply comatose until they picked him for Veep. So he's POTUS or he's our new Ambassador to Gambia under President Ryan, or he lands in a slot on the Wingnut Welfare rolls.

Flynn - aside from being a total fucking loon - is a political orphan. So that knife fight gets really messy and Flynn disappears for a while - until he pops up in a consulting gig for Paul Manafort or some such.

It's not a swamp - it's a sewer. And the shit runs wide and deep.

He Doesn't Know Anything

This gang is a rolling clusterfuck in a burning dumpster.

Wilfred Chan at Fusion

Donald Trump is angry he was not briefed on the executive order he signed granting unprecedented powers to adviser-puppet-master Steve Bannon, the alleged domestic abuser and Satan-praising, Islamophobicformer editor of “alt-right” outlet Breitbart, according to a new report.

From The New York Times:(For) the moment, Mr. Bannon remains the president’s dominant adviser, despite Mr. Trump’s anger that he was not fully briefed on details of the executive order he signed giving his chief strategist a seat on the National Security Council, a greater source of frustration to the president than the fallout from the travel ban.

Credited as the mastermind behind some of Trump’s most extreme policies, including the Muslim ban, Bannon has told allies he has a limited window to ram through as much of his agenda as possible, the Timesadded.

This could explain the flurry of slapdash executive orders in the last few weeks. It also means it’s possible Trump didn’t even read what he was signing when he made Bannon a permanent member of the national security council on January 28 while downgrading the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the director of national intelligence to optional attendees.

Wondering

One of these guys will kill you eventually.

The other one is a kid who's wondering what it'll take just to get some people to act like human fucking beings.

Saw It Coming

...couldn't stop it.

Chilling: Trump in 1993 previewing the full-blown racism that will later become the hallmark of his presidential campaign @rabiasquared pic.twitter.com/0SorJIPZQi

— Adam Khan (@Khanoisseur) October 7, 2016

Today's Tweet

There's so much we're not paying any attention to while we're playing high school fuck-around with 45*, how do we keep track of it?

White & black Americans use drugs at same rate (12%), but African-Americans are 6x more likely to be sent to prison for it. @VanJones68 pic.twitter.com/BJiy6mhuUK

— Our Revolution (@OurRevolution) January 19, 2017

Almost Willing

Just had to get this hairball up.

I could give Alt-Spice the benefit, but it sticks in my craw really bad.  He's using a tactic that's pure propaganda when he makes shit up about how there was a terrorist attack in Atlanta carried out by a Muslim. And the fact that he didn't self-correct - he said the same thing on at least two different occasions - to me that means there's no mistake. It was deliberate. He had a conversation with somebody, and there was a decision made that had him telling us a flat-out lie.

Second, they're using the Pulse shooting in Orlando trying to justify the Muslim Travel Ban.  But that incident was a homegrown guy losing his shit and shooting a bunch of people - you know, like so many good Americans have done every year for fuck knows how long now.

Anyway, the Orlando shooter wasn't a refugee or an immigrant. He was born here. He was a citizen. But he was Muslim and when they use him as a false example, we're further smudging the line between What Is and What If.

And that sounds a whole lot like the Bannon administration is moving the anti-Muslim rhetoric even closer to a Corruption-Of-The-Blood kinda thing.

I hate this.

Today's GIF

Today's Tweet

Russian Propaganda Campaign Was Extensive. pic.twitter.com/seTjuSXzc8

— Tomthunkit™ (@TomthunkitsMind) February 9, 2017

Today's Pix

John Oliver

Rolling Stone interview:

Did you share the general shudder when Kellyanne Conway introduced the idea of "alternative facts"?  It's just a framing device, an ear-catching phrase, but it's nothing new. The content of what she's wrapping a bow on is something that everyone has been bearing witness to. We've had 18 months of feelings over facts. The only thing that's remotely new about it is the location that it's coming from.

Is interviewing her essentially pointless?  In general, it's very dangerous to keep the old campaign architecture around with this presidency, to have an eight-person panel on CNN debating whether or not he said something. "Did he or did he not do this thing we watched him do?" There's actually serious harm in that discussion. And, yeah. I really don't see the point of talking to Kellyanne Conway because her language jujitsu is so strong. You know she can look you in the eyes and tell you the opposite of what you just saw happen, and she will be more confident in her answer than you are in your question.

Today's Meme

Dear President Bannon

Let's do this.

JK Rowling

I guess you could say she has the courage of her bank account, but Rowling still has plenty at risk by standing up and speaking out.

Guess it's true what they say: you can lead a girl to books about the rise and fall of an autocrat, but you still can't make her think. pic.twitter.com/oB7Aq6Xz8M

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) February 1, 2017

Well, the fumes from the DVDs might be toxic and I've still got your money, so by all means borrow my lighter. pic.twitter.com/kVoi8VGEoK

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) January 31, 2017

Chicago Tribune

Rowling is a dedicated progressive.

She's a strong believer in welfare, which she relied on during a particularly rough period in her life. As she said during a 2008 Harvard commencement speech, "An exceptionally short-lived marriage had imploded, and I was jobless, a lone parent, and as poor as it is possible to be in modern Britain, without being homeless . . . By every usual standard, I was the biggest failure I knew."

More recently, Rowling found herself in the midst of a Twitter battle surrounding Brexit, which she staunchly opposed.

Much of this now-seemingly-endless debate was absent during the height of the Harry Potter craze because she didn't publicly discuss her views until the publication of the final Harry Potter book. A year after it hit bookshelves, though, she gave 1 million pounds to Britain's Labor Party.

-and-

"Intolerance of alternative viewpoints is spreading to places that make me, a moderate and a liberal, most uncomfortable. Only last year, we saw an online petition to ban Donald Trump from entry to the U.K. It garnered half a million signatures," she said during the 2016 PEN America Literary Gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. "I find almost everything that Mr. Trump says objectionable. I consider him offensive and bigoted. But he has my full support to come to my country and be offensive and bigoted there. His freedom to speak protects my freedom to call him a bigot. His freedom guarantees mine."

I think what's important here is that "Liberals" who make it big are usually trying to reach back and help the next guy up as well.  "Conservatives" seem always to be trying to pull the ladder up after them.

Keith

No, dude -  Nixon leads it 55 - 11

Watch this video on The Scene.

45* is a perfect example of the classic Weak Salesman - throw enough shit and eventually something will stick.

The overall point is to overwhelm the filter system. We get tired of dealing with the shit storm and retreat.

To reiterate: This guy is no success story.  He's spent 40 years failing up.  He starts with $200 Million in the late 70s. He leverages the fuck out of it, basically borrowing so much that if he defaults, he takes the bankers down with him. So it's in their best interest to prop him up and help him make it work.  After several rounds, he doesn't even have to run his own business - the creditors are doing all the work and he gets to sit back and enjoy the ride.